4 - Wealth I
Net Worth and Real Assets
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2012
Summary
One of the best-established facts in social and economic research on the United States is that wealth ownership is very unequally distributed. There is little question that a small group of people own the vast majority of net worth. However, the factors that account for this inequality are not well established, and the role of religion in particular has attracted very little attention in prior research. In this chapter, I present and discuss empirical evidence showing how religious affiliation and wealth ownership are associated. I explore a variety of wealth outcomes, including total household net worth and total real assets. Recall that net worth, or wealth, is total household assets less total liabilities. Real assets, a subset of total assets, refers to tangible assets such as the primary residence, other homes (e.g., vacation homes), other real estate, business assets, and vehicles. After showing how religious affiliation is related to total net worth and total real assets, I discuss the relationship between religion and extremes in wealth ownership, including both low wealth (asset poverty) and high wealth.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Faith and MoneyHow Religion Contributes to Wealth and Poverty, pp. 83 - 107Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2011